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The following is a commentary written by Sean McBride. He is the founder of DSM Strategic Communications and former Senior Vice President of Communications and Membership at the Grocery Manufacturers Association (now the Consumer Brands Association).
Food policy dynamics in Washington, D.C. have remained consistent for decades. Democrats favor more government intervention in food production, Republicans favor less. For decades, advocates across the left-right spectrum have known which policymakers to choose to support, oppose, or change legislation and regulations.
But that could all soon change with Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s (RFK) assumed role of “making America healthy again” in the Trump 47 administration.
It’s no secret that President-elect Donald Trump despises government interference in the markets. During his first term, he oversaw efforts to repeal two government regulations for every new regulation proposed by one of his federal agencies. This time he speaks. He plans to repeal 10 existing federal regulations. As each new thing falls into place.
Trump’s pro-market, hostile-to-regulation philosophy served regulated institutions well during his first term. This includes the food and agriculture sector. Rather quietly, the regulator of food production got most of what it wanted from the White House on food policy during Trump 45.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) largely sided with the industry when it announced its 2018 biotechnology food labeling regime. Trump’s USDA also relaxed school nutrition standards at the request of schools and food service providers.
At the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), “slow walking” voluntary sodium reduction guidelines began under the Obama administration, with final action delayed until President Biden took office. The FDA also postponed the implementation date for restaurant menu labeling and a new version of the Nutrition Facts label at the request of food companies.
Although there is a sound scientific basis for these decisions, the results are generally consistent with the claims made by industry organizations.
In 2021, the scales tipped in the other direction. President Biden believes that private enterprise should be closely monitored and leniently regulated. Accordingly, we pursued a full-scale court press consisting of aggressive rulemaking to change food companies’ recipes, packaging, and sales methods.
That means Biden’s FDA and USDA are advancing new regulations on food safety, school meals, front-of-package nutrition labeling, sodium, and food chemicals.
But those hoping that a Donald Trump victory will swing food policy in the industry’s favor should be cautious. The left-right food policy continuum can be “morphed” into a prototype. That said, policymakers on the left and right agree that government can and should be used as a mechanism to change business and consumer behavior in the name of public health.
It is well known that Republicans generally favor smaller government and less regulation to spur innovation and lower food costs. Conversely, Democrats generally favor bigger government and more regulation to control corporate behavior and impact non-communicable diseases.
RFK Jr. The appointment will challenge long-standing paradigms.
Kennedy went on record saying he wanted to “remove toxins from our food.” This is due to his participation in the FDA’s food chemical review initiative, which resulted in the FDA’s approval of Red Dye No. Does this mean there will be pressure to ban 3 and Titanium Dioxy? Will he follow science?
Regarding government nutrition, CNN reported: “…Kennedy advocated regulating chemicals in food and limiting access to soda and processed foods through school lunches, including the idea of replacing tallow fats with seed oils to make McDonald’s french fries healthier. I did it. and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.”
Furthermore, RFK said he wants to root out corporate influence on the American Dietary Guidelines for Americans’ Process and Safety Review of Pesticides and Chemicals Used in Food Production.
It is also important to note that RFK shares food policy views with some Republicans on Capitol Hill, such as Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI).
When Trump 47’s administration and its “Make America Healthy Again” leaders begin to talk and act like NGOs and activist groups seeking to strictly regulate food and agriculture companies, the agencies they regulate will become overzealous and scientifically unjustified about: Where do you go to get help from unregulated regulations? Sodium, food additives, school nutrition, food taxes, front-of-package nutrition labeling, SNAP choices, crop protection, GMOs and gene editing, etc?
If these dynamics come to fruition in the coming months, they will pose enormous challenges to the organization of food production. Because it will become harder to find sympathetic voices in stopping, changing, or slowing down unjust government policies to change our ways. Making and Consuming Food in America
So keep an eye on CDC, FDA, USDA, and EPA during the transition and beyond. What happens at that agency tells us all we need to know about the fate of our hosts. Obama and Biden’s food policy initiatives, and whether they will die or thrive under President Trump 47.
